Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
ePhotozine has posted a review of the Nikon Coolpix P60. The P60 is an 8 megapixel point & shoot camera with a 5x optical zoom (equivalent to 36mm-180mm on a 35mm format camera). The P60 also features image shift Vibration Reduction (VR) and sensitivity range of ISO 80-2000.
For a couple of hundred pounds, this isn’t a bad camera. Better performances can be attained with other cameras, but you’ll more than likely have to pay more.
Photexels has posted a review of the new Olympus E-420.
The Olympus EVOLT E-420 is a good choice if you are thinking of upgrading from your point-and-shoot digicam. It is compact and light and comes closest to working like a P&S: its Live View pretty much works like on your P&S digicam; and, it has AUTO mode, plus easy-to-use Scene Modes, that make it point-and-shoot easy to capture great photos.
For the latest news and reviews, check out Photography Bay’s Olympus E-420 Reviews and Resources page.
Pocket-lint has posted a review of the 14.2 megapixel Sony A350.
Excellent performance and great image quality combine neatly within in an easy to use body and good price that make the Sony Alpha 350 worthy of serious consideration.
For more digital camera reviews and news on the A350, visit Photography Bay’s Sony A350 Reviews and Resources by clicking here.
PhotographyBLOG has published a full review of the new 8 megapixel Canon Powershot A580. The A580 is the little brother to the Image Stabilized A590 IS. The A580 features a 4x optical zoom, the option of fully automatic or semi-automatic settings and 16 selectable shooting modes.
Image quality has also exceeded my expectations in terms of detail, colour accuracy, AWB consistency and centre sharpness. A well-exposed and properly focused ISO 80 shot will produce an excellent 30x40cm print, with ISO 800 still enjoyable at the common 10x15cm size.
A patent application, filed by Canon, reveals technology that would effectively incorporate fuel cell technology in DSLRs and other small consumer electronic devices. The United States Patent Application Publication Pub. No. 20080081236 can be found here.
As Canon points out it the patent claims, fuel cell technology is a bit of a tough cookie for small electronic devices due to uneven gas densities and variances in load currents, among other things. For example, the mirror operation in a DSLR can cause sudden fluctuations in the load current, which is problematic for fuel cells. However, Canon claims to have overcome this barrier in its fuel cell power system, “which is capable of counteracting the instantaneous fluctuation of a load current and [is] designed as a smaller lightweight system.”
The patent doesn’t reveal the what the fuel cell system will look like when integrated into a DSLR. Maybe we’ll see some sort of battery grip integration in the first iteration, like in the MTI Micro image above.
On a (perhaps) related note, MTI Micro recently announced a partnership with an unnamed Japanese digital camera manufacturer to evaluate the use of fuel cells in digital cameras. (See this report on Engadget for more.) I’m just reading between the lines here, but maybe Canon is that “someone special” for MTI Micro.
I’ve been testing the new Canon Rebel XSi. The image quality thus far is impressive. Below are a few in-camera JPEG samples taken throughout the range of ISOs available. You may click on each photo to view the original image at 100%. Additionally, you can see more sample images in this Flickr set (Full EXIF is available). More news and reviews are available on the Canon Rebel XSi Reviews and Resources page. [Read more…]
ePhotozine has posted a full review of the Nikon Coolpix P80. The new P80 boasts a 10.1 megapixel image sensor, Nikon’s EXPEED processing and vibration reduction on a whopping 18x optical zoom lens. The P80’s 18x Zoom-NIKKOR lens covers focal lengths from 27-486mm (35mm format equivalent).
Nikon are really coming up trumps with processor capability. The landscape image has good definition all-round with nice detail in the grass. No fringing is evident on the white steps or on the roof of the building, which I’m really impressed with.
Cameras.co.uk has posted a review of the Nikon Coolpix L18.
The main reason for looking to buy the Coolpix L18 is the fact it is simple and easy to use. Another attraction is the fact you can pick up a camera from a respected brand like Nikon for a relatively low price.
PC Mag has posted a review of the Panasonic DMC-FX35.
On the plus side, this camera has the rare ability to record HD-quality (1,280-by-720) movies at 30 or 15 frames per second. Video quality is good, too: At an aspect ratio of 16:9, there was little blurriness or shake, and playback was smooth.